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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who pleaded guilty in April to firing three rounds from a .22 caliber handgun at a Salt Lake City synagogue was sentenced to prison Tuesday.
Macon Michael Openshaw, 22, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison and pay $1,969 in restitution for shooting the second-floor window casing and exterior wall of the Congregation Kol Ami synagogue between January and April 2012, according to the Department of Justice. He was also ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
At a plea hearing in April, Openshaw pleaded guilty to civil rights violation charges, possessing and using a handgun with a destroyed serial number, and possessing several other firearms and ammunition while he was subject to a protective order.
"Religiously motivated violence cannot be tolerated by civil society," said acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division in a release from the Justice Department. "The department stands ready to combat violence based on a person's religion, and will continue to prosecute these hate crimes vigorously."
